Tuesday, November 24, 2009

DELRAN - Boys are obsessed with video games. Girls are obsessed with their bodies. Both are overindulging in distractions such as text messaging at the expense of learning and sleeping. Education proponent and well-known author Leonard Sax is worried, and, according to Sax, parents should be, too. Sax described a growing gender gap in academic achievement that is seeing young men left in the dust by their increasingly anxious female counterparts to a crowd of about 70, most of them parents, at Delran High School on Thursday.

He linked legions of failing boys and anxiety-ridden girls to the popularity of video games and Web-based media, changes in American society and the abdication of authority by parents during his nearly three-hour talk, which was organized by the Delran Middle School and High School Parent Teacher Association, whose president, Patti Blosfelds, introduced Sax and recommended his books. Citing his own experiences as a family doctor as well as scholarly studies, Sax said increasing numbers of boys and young men are obsessed with video games and "the virtual world," and as a result are doing drastically worse in academics than students 40 years ago. Sax, the Pennsylvania-based executive director of the National Association for Single Sex Public Education, has studied the issues extensively and written two books: "Why Gender Matters" and "Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men."Today, he said, boys excelling academically in U.S. schools tend to be of East or South Asian descent, children of recent immigrants, or immigrants themselves."They see nothing un-masculine in preparing for the spelling bee," Sax said, unlike their white, black or Latino peers, who care more about excellence on the sports field or in the video game world. "For them, caring about school is seen as un-masculine." The countries that many of these excelling students hail from, such as India and China, happen to have economies that are growing by leaps and bounds when compared with the United States and Europe. Sax spoke of the declining number of American boys who read for fun, noting a recently completed 25-year National Endowment of the Arts study that found the gap between the number of girls and boys who read for fun has widened dramatically.

"And it's not because girls are reading more," said Sax, recalling a young man in Maryland who told him he'd rather "be burned at the stake" than read books during his summer vacation. "Boys have stopped reading altogether."

Eliciting chuckles from the audience, Sax recalled how more than four decades ago "ancient" musical artists such as the Beach Boys and Sam Cooke were singing about being "true to your school" and "trying to be an A student."

But these positive messages have been replaced by the likes of 50 Cent, Eminem and Akon, a Georgia native and popular artist who propagated false stories of incarceration to enhance his image. Boys' role models have gone from "scholars to thugs and bullies," Sax said, just as their activities have shifted from playing outdoors and listening to positive music to playing violent video games in a virtual world away from positive male influences. Video games especially have taken a greater place in the lives of young boys, who love to collaborate in combat, ambush enemies and feel heroic, Sax told the crowd. While moderate use of nonviolent video games - under six hours a week - has no effect on academic achievement, use in excess of six hours has a direct and linear negative impact. Sax called the trend "displacement," as in the shifting of time normally spent studying, playing with real friends or, perhaps most important, sleeping. "Teenagers need nine hours of sleep per night," Sax said, and when they don't get it, the deprivation drops their IQ to levels that can make them sluggish and appear "mildly retarded." Such behavior leads to incorrect diagnoses of attention deficit disorder or associated ailments, opening the way for the prescription of Ritalin, Adderall and other psychotropic stimulants that may mask underlying sleep disorders or other problems, according to Sax. The impact of video games also is seen on the high school sports fields, where out-of-shape students show up and fail miserably because they think excellence in sports video games equates to achievement on the field, he said. Violent video games result in more insidious problems, according to Sax, who said realistic violence is related to personality changes that make young men "less caring, more hostile, rude." One place where the combined effects of gender difference are glaringly obvious is at the nation's colleges, Sax said, especially at schools with admissions programs that don't make an effort to maintain a 50-50 split between boys and girls. Sax said the University of North Carolina admissions program's reliance on grades and test scores, rather than gender, recently resulted in a class that is 62 percent female. Accounting for dropouts, the split will grow to 66-33 percent by the end of the class' time on campus. Nationally, the effect is decreasing the numbers of educated and economically productive males in the long term and, in the short term, creating a troublesome "supply and demand" problem for women, who outnumber their male peers nearly 2 to 1. "It changes social life at the university," Sax said, and has an adverse effect on women applying to institutions that are forced to reject academically superior women as they try to maintain an even split.At the nation's top schools - such as Harvard, Princeton and Yale - classes would be as high as 70 percent female, Sax said, without efforts to admit an equal numbers of boys.Sax reminded the audience that the brain of a teenager is developing and is not mature until age 22 in girls and sometimes not until 30 for boys. Sometimes this means boys fresh out of high school aren't ready for college and should not be forced to attend, said Sax.Moving to recommendations for the Delran crowd, Sax said it's important for parents to remember their authority and assert priorities. Family dinner should be the No. 1 priority, with schoolwork and real friends coming in at second and third.

Last on the priority list are video games, with no more than 40 minutes of playing time on weekdays and an hour on weekends. Game systems should not be in boys' bedrooms, Sax said, and cell phone chargers should remain in the parents' bedroom so that kids, especially young girls, are not experiencing sleepless nights of text messaging. Paradoxically, the lazy boys Sax has seen tend to be happy and content, despite academic shortcomings, while young, academically successful girls tend to be anxious. Sax said young ladies are abusing alcohol and cutting themselves with sharp objects in growing numbers. They are spending more hours fretting about their body image, maintaining a presence on social media sites such as Facebook, and sending literally thousands of text messages per month. Citing a San Diego State University study, Sax said young girls are increasingly high-strung and anxious. Today, 39 percent of ninth-graders have one alcoholic drink per month, half drink regularly and more than one in four are binge drinking. Noting a picture of 1950s beauty Marilyn Monroe, Sax said that by today's standards she would be fat, especially when compared with skinny sex icons such as Megan Fox of the "Transformers" series of films. Such unrealistic body images are the norm as eating disorders and cutting are on the rise, with as many as one in five girls committing self-mutilation. These trends are the subject of Sax's next book, "Girls on the Edge," set for a spring release.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

As Phyllis Diller once said, we spend the first 12 months of our son's lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next 12 years telling them to sit down and shut up.

So, let's understand the reality: Boys and girls behave differently and learn differently. The data are irrefutable. Of children on Ritalin, 80 per cent are boys. Of college students, 60 per cent are female and the numbers are rising. The majority of children diagnosed with learning disabilities are boys and 80 per cent of high-school dropouts are also boys. In 35 industrialized nations, including Canada, the girls are getting better grades than the boys.

The statistics can be alarming for parents. A recent Newsweek article, The Trouble with Boys, claims that the widening achievement gap has profound implications for the economy, society, families and democracy. The Gates Foundation is making boys a big priority.

It's not that one type of school is superior to the other. It never is. It will always be about great teachers, the development of relationships, building character and leadership, and providing creative and challenging opportunities within a caring and supportive environment. But, an all-boys education, with a focus on best practice for boys, can be the single most valued investment in your son's education.

Nobody is saying that an all-boys education is better than a co-educational one, but the heart of the matter is that it appears an all-boys education is better for boys.

Ground-breaking brain research has shown the physical differences in the brains of boys and girls. Boys use more of their brain for spatial mechanical function, which is to say that an active boy is able to use more of his brain for learning.

The brains of boys are kinetic, messy, disorganized and brilliant, and these dispositions are hard-wired, not learned as was previously thought. Boys kick their lockers, use balled up paper to throw imaginary basketballs, and yes, they punch each other for fun.

Toe-tapping, tongue-clicking and goofing around raise blood pressure (of the teacher as well), but this is thought to make the brain more absorbent. This normal boy behaviour is labelled troublesome or disruptive in a co-ed classroom where the girls (not all, of course) are focusing, sitting quietly and getting all the As. The boys have cornered the market for Ds and Fs.

In large classrooms, teachers place a premium on sitting quietly and never speaking out of turn, inherent girl behaviour which goes on to become the gold standard, according to Michael Thompson, child psychologist and co-author of Raising Cain; Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys.

In an all-boys environment, boys are not compared to girls, which helps preserve their self-esteem. The part of the brain, the pre-frontal cortex, that controls inhibitions, and enables insight and problem-solving and the ability to have a conscience is now known to be activated by experience.

In other words, boys need to be taught how to access their feelings and emotions, whereas the current classroom setup in a co-ed environment is better suited to the neuro-development of girls. Boys reading readiness for example, is simply a matter of slower, normal brain development but when compared with the girls it is negatively labelled "delayed."

Cross-gender communication skills are an issue at the heart of co-education. Life is co-ed; therefore education should be as well. Some say that separating the boys from the girls only reinforces stereotyping. To be sure, cross-gender skills are essential in achieving a socially and emotionally effective adult life. Boy's schools have created partnerships with girls attending other schools, especially in areas such as community service and the arts, ensuring the necessary collaboration. Many boys' schools have also made gender equality a legitimate goal and the presence of a large percentage of strong, talented women teaching at boys schools has made the attainment of this goal a reality.

Without the presence of girls, the reality is that boys learn to bond with each other in their own unique way. They learn how to become friends, the value of friendship, and they understand that the cultivation of lasting friends takes a great deal of effort. They develop their own personal empathy. Boys who attend all-boys schools tend to keep their high-school friends for life. Programs like choral music, fine arts and drama (crucial in an all-male environment) can be pursued without fear of being perceived as being uncool in front of the opposite sex.

Boys are magical, exciting, energetic, caring, loving and smart. We need to understand this and create a setting that will allow our boys to develop their strengths and deal with their weaknesses. Many environments can accomplish these objectives but none better than an all boys' school.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Ernest Hemingway wrote standing at his typewriter. That's hardly surprising, because research suggests boys are more apt to learn when they can move around. Because we all want to encourage tomorrow's authors sitting or standing in today's classrooms, many private boys' schools are experimenting with stand-up desks and other such initiatives.

Chris Spence's recent proposal for Canada's first public all-boys school offers an opportunity to weigh in with 180 years of lessons learned and cautionary tips for our public-school brethren. Some see their proposal as an exotic provocation, not a public policy initiative with precedents in Alberta's charter schools and thriving public boys' schools the world over.

The Hemingway example illustrates a broad point: Without stereotyping gender difference, we do believe boys and girls learn differently. Reams of research speak to that. While biology isn't destiny, it is proclivity. The point is, boys' schools aren't about segregation. They're about defining gender-selected strengths and teaching to them.

There's also a subtle point that hasn't been discussed much. Dr. Spence's move is reported as a reaction to a public system that has failed the many disengaged, learning-disabled or violent boys who lag behind girls. The cited causes range from fatherless homes to immigrant alienation to poverty.

While I'm enthusiastic about this initiative, my fear is this forward-thinking innovation will reinforce the old myth that boys' schools are a punitive last gasp – boot camps for the ungovernable and the delinquent. Only a sustained, conscious effort will ensure this school does not succumb to a reactive, remedial model of boys' learning.

It's a challenge. The new school will be set up precisely because those within its catchment aren't thriving in their current schools. By contrast, my school (Toronto's Upper Canada College) and others like it have entrants who possess academic strength to thrive in competitive environments and parents who have the means, or receive tuition assistance, to support them in realizing their potential.

Despite contrasting entrance credentials, this school can succeed for the same reasons others have. Boys' schools must articulate key values from the outset. Our challenge is to build character, to teach boys to explore modern notions of masculinity. We want boys to know it's okay to ask for help, to care and nurture. Most importantly, as teachers we demonstrate these traits so graduates can serve, unabashedly, as parents and community leaders who make a difference.

Boys' schools are uniquely situated to do just that. Consider a report for the Good Man Project, a collaboration of New Zealand boys' schools: “By their very existence, boys' schools encourage building a sense of pride in being male. In a world where much media focus is on the more negative aspects of young men, the ability of boys' schools to provide an alternative view cannot be underestimated.”

Boys' schools aren't simply about serving up a healthy dose of customized learning. They're places where boys aren't afraid to take risks, where it's okay to join the meditation group or the debating club, to cheer for underdogs and stand up to bullies.

It's not all warm and cuddly. Look at a typical pack of Grade 4 boys, tumbling about like puppies. Boys are, by nature, rougher and tougher, more physically competitive. Those who work at boys' schools need a deep understanding and comfort with that reality, while not falling for the simplicity of the old “boys will be boys” mentality.

It is a double-edged sword, so a final caution: Our students are apt to call themselves a “band of brothers,” while forming lifelong friendships. But it's an artificial tree house with no girls allowed. So we need to intentionally build in co-ed opportunities, especially in arts and service programs. You can't have it all. Our graduates often confess they hustle to get up to speed about deciphering the intricacies of female social cues once they hit universities or the workplace.

Ultimately, all such schools are in the character-building business. But we only get there by refusing the remedial “reform school” model – that's no place for a boy to grow. Even Hemingway wouldn't stand for that.